The Battle Over the Removal of Lee's Statue

They began gathering well before noon Wednesday, greeted by police and gathered around barricades surrounding Lee Park. They wanted action, either to see the statue of Robert E. Lee taken down after a Dallas City Council vote that seemed preordained, or to see it saved at the last minute.

Around noon, the vote came in. The council voted 13-1 to remove the statue. Crews began to measure the monument for dismantling, but word arrived late in the afternoon: U.S. District Judge Sydney Fitzwater signed a temporary restraining order, saving the statue for at least one day.

Amid this dramatic backdrop, activists on both sides and Dallas City Council members arrived in Oak Lawn to argue the issue. As work crews began dismantling a Dallas statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Wednesday, a court challenge intervened. City Council member Scott Griggs posted on Facebook that a temporary restraining order has been granted in federal court preventing the monument from coming down. Photos by Brian Maschino

They began gathering well before noon Wednesday, greeted by police and gathered around barricades surrounding Lee Park. They wanted action, either to see the statue of Robert E. Lee taken down after a Dallas City Council vote that seemed preordained, or to see it saved at the last minute.

Around noon, the vote came in. The council voted 13-1 to remove the statue. Crews began to measure the monument for dismantling, but word arrived late in the afternoon: U.S. District Judge Sydney Fitzwater signed a temporary restraining order, saving the statue for at least one day.

Amid this dramatic backdrop, activists on both sides and Dallas City Council members arrived in Oak Lawn to argue the issue. As work crews began dismantling a Dallas statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on Wednesday, a court challenge intervened. City Council member Scott Griggs posted on Facebook that a temporary restraining order has been granted in federal court preventing the monument from coming down. Photos by Brian Maschino